Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39506334›Full record

ArticleBiophysical journal2025

A comprehensive method to analyze single-cell vibrations.

Ali Al-Khaz'Aly, Salim Ghandorah, Jared J Topham, Nasir Osman, Taye Louie, Farshad Farshidfar, Matthias Amrein

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biophysical journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Ali Al-Khaz'AlyDepartment of Medical Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Salim GhandorahDepartment of Medical Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Jared J TophamDepartment of Medical Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Nasir OsmanDepartment of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Electrical Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Taye LouieCumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Farshad FarshidfarDepartment of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Biomedical Data Science and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Tenaya Therapeutics, South San Francisco, California. Electronic address: farshidfar@gmail.com.
Matthias AmreinDepartment of Medical Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. Electronic address: mamrein@ucalgary.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

All living cells vibrate depending on metabolism. It has been hypothesized that vibrations are unique for a given phenotype and thereby suitable to diagnose cancer type and stage and to pre-assess the effectiveness of pharmaceutical treatments in real time. However, cells exhibit highly variable vibrational signals, can be subject to environmental noise, and may be challenging to differentiate, having so far limited the phenomenon's applicability. Here, we combined the sensitive method of force spectroscopy using optical tweezers with comprehensive statistical analysis. After data acquisition, the signal was decomposed into its spectral components via fast Fourier transform. Peaks were parameterized and subjected to principal-component analysis to perform an unbiased multivariate statistical evaluation. This method, which we term cell vibrational profiling (CVP), systematically assesses cellular vibrations. To validate the CVP technique, we conducted experiments on five U251 glioblastoma cells, using 8- to 10-μm polystyrene beads as a control for comparison. We collected raw data using optical tweezers, segmenting into 150+ 5-s intervals. Each segment was converted into power spectra representing a frequency resolution of 10,000 Hz for both cells and controls. U251 glioblastoma cells exhibited significant vibrations at 402.6, 1254.6, 1909.0, 2169.4, and 3462.8 Hz (p < 0.0001). This method was further verified with principal-component analysis modeling, which revealed that, in cell-cell comparisons using the selected frequencies, overlap frequently occurred, and clustering was difficult to discern. In contrast, comparison between cell-bead models showed that clustering was easily distinguishable. Our paper establishes CVP as an unbiased, comprehensive technique to analyze cell vibrations. This technique effectively differentiates between cell types and evaluates cellular responses to therapeutic interventions. Notably, CVP is a versatile, cell-agnostic technique requiring minimal sample preparation and no labeling or external interference. By enabling definitive phenotypic assessments, CVP holds promise as a diagnostic tool and could significantly enhance the evaluation of pharmaceutical treatments.

Indexed as

Optical TweezersSingle-Cell AnalysisVibrationCell Line, TumorHumansPrincipal Component Analysis

Identifiers

PMID39506334
PMCPMC11739874

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.